


All Good Things (Come to an End)

by MadeinDumbfuck



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Lena Luthor & Maggie Sawyer Friendship, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, Lena Luthor Needs a Hug, Major Character Injury, Protective Kara Danvers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 14:18:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15414849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadeinDumbfuck/pseuds/MadeinDumbfuck
Summary: When Lena gets hurt, Kara starts blaming herself, even though there wasn't anything she could have done to prevent it. Kara thinks that breaking up with Lena is the only way to keep her safe, so she does.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Important disclaimer, I haven't actually seen Supergirl because I feel like they're wasting absolutely brilliant characters with shitty writing and even shittier storylines. Anyway, this is me attempting to do better than the writers.

Lena leaned back in her chair, pen rhythmically drumming against her desk. She sighed for what must have been the twentieth time in the past half an hour. 

Her concentration had left her hours ago, but she was determined to finish the last two documents in front of her. She didn't want to spend game night thinking about work, especially not after having missed the last one. 

A glance at the clock revealed that she had another fifteen minutes until she had to leave, meaning she actually only had ten to finish the documents. 

“Okay, Lena you’ve got this. Pull your shit together.” With a deep inhale she sat up straight again and got to work. 

Ten minutes on the dot later, Lena signed off on the last document with an unnecessary flourish, even going so far as to add a dot after her signature. 

She shook her head with a small smile on her lips, knowing that her friends would call her out for being so dramatic, so extra. Her laptop and personal cell were quickly shoved into her satchel, along with another file that she would look at in the morning. 

Lena made sure to switch off her lights, lock the balcony door, as well as her office door, before heading towards the parking garage. 

Inwardly she was cursing herself, she could’ve left earlier if she hadn’t sent Simon home in the afternoon. But she’d felt guilty after the last few weeks of having him stay late and come in early.

“No point dwelling on it,” she muttered under her breath as she pulled out of the garage.

Besides, she actually loved driving. Lena just didn’t do it too often because having someone drive her afforded her another few minutes to get some work done. 

Her musings were interrupted by a notification on the dashboard, telling her that Kara was calling. With the press of a button, Kara’s face popped up on the center console. 

“Before you say anything, I’m on my way. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” she said with a self-satisfied smirk. 

Glancing at the blonde’s projection briefly before concentrating on the road again.

“And yes, I will bring the two pints of ice cream.” She didn’t chance a glance back at Kara, but Lena was pretty sure that she was pouting, judging by the little huff.

“Kara, is that Lena? Tell her that we need more snacks and whiskey, top shelf!” Maggie shouted from, presumably, the kitchen into the living room.

They all knew that the shouting was unnecessary with Kara’s super hearing and all but the detective liked to tease. Maggie also liked to take advantage of the fact that Lena appreciated good, and therefore expensive, whiskey. 

“You heard that, right?” Kara asked, sounding somewhat subdued.

“I did, yes. I’ll see what I can do on the snack and whiskey front, I just parked in front the store,” Lena said while unbuckling. 

She was about to throw a quick ‘see you in a bit, darling’ over her shoulder while exiting the car but something made her stop and take another look at her girlfriend.

“Are you alright, darling?” Lena inquired softly. She only got a non-committal hum in response. 

“You know I love you and that you can talk to me, right? Tell me what’s going on in that big Kryptonian head of yours.” That seemed to do the trick and got Kara out of her trance. 

“I know and I love you too. It’s just that- that-that I don’t-ugh I don’t know... I guess I’m just in a bit of a funky mood.” The blonde ran her hand through her hair and huffed again, clearly frustrated with her inability to pinpoint the exact cause of her feelings. 

“Maybe your spider-senses are tingling,” Maggie interjected, plopping down on the couch next to Kara, effectively entering Lena's line of sight. 

Lena could tell that their friend was joking around, trying to lighten the mood. Kara's minuscule flinch told her that the jab had hit too close to home.

"Yo, Luthor, what about that whiskey? I've been waiting for ages."

Lena decided to ignore Maggie’s whining and focused on the still pensive Kara, smiled a brilliant smile, winked at them and said, “I’ll be back,” in her best Arnie impression.

Maggie’s groan was the last thing she heard before she disconnected the call.

She was browsing through the aisles, looking for something special to cheer Kara up, when Lena heard the bell above the door ring and saw a man enter. Looking down at the selection of candy, Lena decided that Reese’s pieces, Nerds, Airheads and four pints of Kara’s favorite ice cream would help improve her girlfriend's mood. Nothing, well almost nothing, made Kara happier than food. 

It was on her way to the register that she noticed the tension in the store, that the man who had entered earlier was yelling.

"Are you fucking kidding me, a hundred bucks for two bottles of whiskey? I bought the same bottles on Washington Boulevard last week for fifty!" he exclaimed angrily. 

"Then go to Washington Boulevard if you don't wanna pay," the cashier answered in a bored, monotonous voice.

Lena felt sorry for the guy, she might not have had any experience working in retail, but she knew what it was like to deal with condescending and patronizing people on a daily basis.

"That's ten blocks from here!" 

"Listen, I don't make the prices. Buy the bottles or don't, I couldn't care less, either way. There are customers here who actually plan to pay." the cashier nodded towards Lena, who had come to a stop a few feet away from the two men.

It seemed like the customer had finally given up and accepted the amount he had to pay. Instead of his wallet, he pulled out a small silver revolver and pointed it at the young man behind the counter.

"Give me the bottles and I'll be on my way. Nobody has to get hurt."

The cashier looked at the gun pointed at his chest, swallowed loud enough for Lena to hear but otherwise didn't move a muscle. He looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

"Now!" 

Hesitant to spook the gunman but also unwilling to let the situation escalate any further, Lena addressed him in a calm, placating voice.

"Look, I don't want to assume anything about you or your life, but I'm guessing that you don't want to go to prison for armed robbery. "

That got the gunman's attention, he turned his head towards Lena but kept the gun trained ahead.

"So how about you lower the gun and we try to find a way to get out of this without any of us landing in a hospital or in prison. See that up there?" Lena asked gently, letting her eyes drift to the CCTV camera close to the door. 

Both men followed her look. 

She was nervous, hyper-aware of every word leaving her lips, her mind was coming up with thousands of different endings to this scenario, even though this wasn't her first potentially lethal situation. 

Luckily, she was trained to think in high-pressure situations without batting an eye. 

When she had their attention again, she continued. 

"The police will know who to look for, should you decide to go ahead and rob this place. You'll go to prison, because of two bottles of mediocre whiskey. That doesn't sound like it's worth it to me and lucky for you, I know how to get you out of your predicament. Would you like to hear it?" 

He nodded slowly and she thought she saw something like gratitude in his eyes. 

"I'm going to pay for your whiskey and our friend," she looked at the cashier's name tag, "Brian over there, won't say anything to the police or his manager. What do you think?" 

She prayed that Brian would get the hint and confirm what she said and after what felt like an eternity, he did.

"Yeah," he glanced at Lena unsurely, "I won't tell anybody dude, I swear."

The gunman nodded repeatedly, more to himself than at her, and gestured the gun in a 'go ahead' motion towards the counter. 

"Good. I'm just going to reach for my wallet, it's inside my bag," Lena felt like the clarification was stupid, but she wanted to play it safe.

"Slowly," he gruffed and she repeated the word in confirmation. 

She took a slow, cautious step towards the register when they heard loud sirens approaching. 

Suddenly, the gun was pointed at her, instead of at Brian.

"You bitch, you called the fucking cops!" and before she could react in any way, he clocked her in the head with the butt of the gun. 

Next thing she knew, she was falling backward, arms trying and failing to hold onto something.

Even though her vision was blurry and her brain was trying to make sense of what was happening, she felt the impact with the shelf all too clearly. Fear and panic shot through Lena when she realized that she had too much momentum, that she would knock it over on her way down.

This time she did not feel the impact, either because shock had finally set in or... Lena decided not to think about it. 

"Fuck! Shit!" She turned her head towards the noise and was greeted by the two shocked men. They seemed to be frozen in place, though one of them was pointing at her, she thought he was trying to convey something with the gesture, she just couldn't figure out what. 

With great effort, Lena lifted her head and regretted it immediately. Now she understood why they were looking so shocked. 

She probably should have had a similar reaction, but for some reason, the sight of a metal rod protruding from her stomach made her giggle. 

Until it didn't anymore, all too soon her soft laughter turned into ragged breaths and wet coughs. It was getting harder and harder for Lena to concentrate on her breathing, her vision was fading out every few seconds, and even in her state, she could tell that she was about to bleed out on the floor of a dingy convenience store. 

She wasn’t a hundred percent sure but she felt like some time had passed before all of a sudden the pain in her abdomen multiplied a hundredfold, there were muffled voices screaming, for what exactly, Lena didn't know. 

For a second she thought she was flying, that Kara had come to rescue her, only to realize that she was being lifted and she wanted to scream, scream that the metal rod that was slowly killing her was also the only thing keeping her alive.

She didn't scream nor did she cry, instead she silently resigned herself to the fact that she was about to die because some idiot without a lick of common sense was trying to help. 

Resigned herself to the fact that she would never see Kara's beautiful smile again, never hear her melodious laugh again.   
It hurt, the realization hurt so much more than the white-hot pain in her abdomen.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up came as a bit of a surprise to Lena, she really hadn't expected to wake up after the nightmarish events at the convenience store.  
It took some time for her to build up enough energy to open her eyes and even then, it was harder than she would have liked. The lights above were bright, much too bright for her still sensitive eyes.

Some time passed before her eyes adjusted enough for her to take in her surroundings and take stock of her injuries. Lena had noticed upon waking up that her right arm was immobilized, probably in some sort of a sling.  
A peek to her right confirmed her suspicions. Hanging a few inches above the bed, was her right arm in an obnoxiously yellow cast.  
Lena had no recollection of breaking her arm, but then again, she didn't feel the metal penetrating her either. 

Speaking of, looking down at her stomach Lena half expected to find the metal still sticking out of her, instead, she saw her stomach covered by a light blue hospital gown. Her left hand inched towards where she thought the injury was of its own accord, gently touching the surrounding area. A hiss escaped Lena, as she accidentally applied too much pressure. After examining the wound and the rest of her body to the best of her abilities, Lena turned her attention towards her surroundings. 

The room she was in looked like a run of the mill hospital room, bare walls, sparsely decorated, a small desk underneath the window, though the chair was pulled up next to her standard issue hospital bed. There were no personal items in the room which made her wonder about Kara's whereabouts. She must have been worried sick when Lena didn't show up after the call. Lena could imagine Kara pacing in her apartment, muttering things in Kryptonian, running her hands through her hair repeatedly while Maggie sat in the living room trying to assuage her fears.

There was nothing she wanted more right now than to hug and kiss Kara, to promise her that she was fine, that she didn't have anything to worry about.   
But life rarely works out the way you want it, especially when your name is Lena Luthor.

When the door opened, it wasn't her beautiful girlfriend's face that peeked through the small crack, it was Alex Danvers's. Who's look of surprise but relief made Lena wonder as to how long she was unconscious. 

“You look like crap,” Alex stated bluntly when she finally entered the room and walked towards the visitor's chair.

“And you don’t pull punches, do you?” They both knew she didn’t, but the banter felt comfortable when Lena felt anything but. She was weary of Kara’s absence and consequently of Alex’s presence.

“You know I don’t, it’s also why I’m here, but that can wait for another minute or two. I’ll give you the rundown of what happened first.” Lena gave a curt nod, all too willing to prolong whatever this was. She wasn't sure if she actually wanted to know why Alex was there. 

“I think, I remember everything before the fall so maybe start with that.” She said in a voice that was all business. The look Alex gave her begged her not to shut her out, they had come too far in their friendship for this to happen again. It was too late for that though, Lena had felt her walls come up, the second she realized it wasn’t Kara opening the door.

“I see,” Alex mumbled before she opened the file in her hand. “After Kent McCord clocked you, you fell into the shelf behind you and it toppled over. You have a distal radius fracture as well as shaft fractures of both ulna and radius from landing on your arm." 

"Meaning I have a broken wrist and forearm. How long do I have to wear the cast for?"   
"If you heal quickly, a month, six weeks are more likely, though." Alex took a small break, seemingly preparing herself for what she was about to say. Lena could relate, no matter how collected and composed she appeared on the outside, she was an unsure, scared mess on the inside.

"I'll spare you the gory details of what happened after but basically, you were impaled by the shelf. You were so unbelievably lucky that someone else came into the store and knew what to do because... you were just lying there, slowly bleeding to death while those two morons stood by and watched!" Alex had gotten louder and angrier with each word she said. 

"For Fuck's sake, Lena! Do you have any idea how scared we all were?"  
"Alex, look at me." Lena pulled the hand that wasn't gripping the file into her lap, stroking her thumb over white knuckles. Once again it fell into her lap to be the calm one, not that she minded in this case. Alex's concern for her well-being meant too much for her for that. "It could've been worse, they could've tried to pull me off of it." 

"Could've been worse my ass..." Alex mumbled under her breath, Lena heard it anyway.   
"Anyway, Mrs. Philips knew more or less what she was doing, called the ambulance, applied pressure to the wound as best as she could and most importantly, didn't remove the fucking thing," Alex said much calmer, "You still lost a shit ton of blood, you almost died on the way over to the hospital and in the OR." 

Lena tried to process all the information and for the most part, she succeeded, but it was difficult to wrap her mind around the fact that this was something that had actually happened to her. It felt ironic almost being killed by a cheap shelf, having survived countless assassination attempts. The whole situation was laughable, really. Not that she really felt like laughing, that foreboding feeling she had since waking up was growing in the recesses of her mind, worsening the headache she had since waking up.

"The good news is that the surgeons were able to prevent any permanent damage, they'll probably discharge you in seven to ten days." 

An uncomfortable silence descended, neither of them sure what to say, it hadn't been this weird between them since the beginning of Kara and Lena's relationship. This silence was different though, and Lena barely suppressed her sigh of relief, when Alex's phone started to ring. 

"Sorry, I have to take this." Alex didn't look very sorry and judging by how fast she moved it was either incredibly urgent, or she wanted to escape this as quickly as possible, not that Lena would judge her for it.   
"No, I'm still at the hospital... Yes, she's awake...How am I supposed to know? You know that I've been here since yesterday," the brunette exhaled loudly, "Alright, I'll be there in ten." She hung up with another exhale and walked towards the door. 

"I'm sorry but I have to go. I'll be back as soon as possible, and we'll talk then, okay? You should rest in the meantime, I wasn't kidding when I said that you look like shit."

“Wait, Alex, what did you want to-“ The door slammed shut. “-talk to me about...” Lena sighed heavily. This definitely wasn’t the outcome she had expected when Alex had entered. There were too many things happening for her to comprehend in her state of mind. She was still trying to process what Alex had told her, while also trying to figure out what Alex hadn’t been able to tell her before the call. Not to mention the fact that the pain in her abdomen was getting worse with every passing minute, which made concentrating even harder.

Approximately thirty seconds after the door had shut, Lena heard the soft rustle of fabric to her left. She didn’t need to turn around to know who had entered.  
After all, there were only so many people who would fly through her window. 

“That's not an entrance either, you know?” Lena said as casually as she could, even though her heart was beating wildly in her chest when she turned towards her girlfriend. The tension she had been feeling earlier vanished, replaced by a feeling of content.

Kara didn't react to the jab, she didn't do anything but watch and observe. It was a bit unnerving. 

“Come here.” Lena patted the left side of the bed in invitation with a smile, “C’mon, I promise I won’t bite... again.” 

Kara seemed to hesitate a bit, before making her way over. There was another moment of hesitation before she oh so carefully sat on the bed.

“Hey,” Lena said, and when Kara looked up with tears in her eyes, Lena forgot all about the pain she was feeling, now completely focused on soothing Kara.

“Hi,” came the sniffly reply, “I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up.” 

“I’ve barely been awake for more than 20 minutes before you came. There’s no reason to apologize.” She reassured her girlfriend, she could tell that Kara really did feel bad about not being there, but she couldn't help the feeling that something else was going on.

“As happy as I am to see you, darling, I’m also very, very tired. Let’s lie down for a bit?” Lena continued with a barely repressed yawn.

Kara mumbled something inaudible under her breath but moved to lay down next to Lena anyway. It was tricky for Kara to maneuver without disturbing any of the wires or the IV and without falling off the narrow hospital bed. They managed to find a mostly comfortable position for both of them though. Kara was laying on her side, her head nuzzled into Lena's neck with her left and gently caressing her collarbone.

The pain in her abdomen hadn't disappeared completely but it was much more manageable now, it was as like just being close to Kara made everything better.   
They lay like that for a while until the silence that enveloped them was interrupted by Kara mumbling something. Lena wouldn’t have heard it if it wasn’t for Kara’s lips so close to her neck, her voice barely a whisper.

“I’m sorry.” 

"You're here now, that's all that matters," Lena spoke softly into the once again silent room, trying to move her hand so that she could run her fingers through blonde hair but their position made that extremely difficult. Instead she settled for resting her hand against Kara's hip, squeezing it intermittently.

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about you talking down a lunatic with a gun while I sat at home watching tv with Maggie." Kara got out of the bed and started pacing before continuing, "I should have been there, I should have done something." 

Lena could tell that this was a precarious situation, Kara seemed to get more agitated with every step she took, calming her without invalidating her feelings was going to be difficult. 

"There is nothing anybody could have done. He got spooked when he heard the sirens nearby and reacted instinctively. Nobody could have anticipated what happened," She tried carefully, while sitting up. 

"But I'm not nobody!" She screamed, then continued quieter, "I'm supposed to be the protector of the city but how can I call myself a hero, how can I call myself Supergirl, if I can't even protect you?" 

Seeing the despair so clearly in those blue eyes made Lena sick to her stomach, she would have done anything to make Kara feel better, to make her understand that she was not responsible. 

"Getting that call from the hospital was one of the scariest moments of my life. Seeing you get wheeled into the hospital with that… with that- that thing sticking out of you was like a nightmare turned reality."

“This situation, you almost having died, lying in that bed, knowing that I should have been there, just everything…It’s breaking me, I can feel it,” she inhaled shakily, wiped her face, looked Lena in the eyes and carried on, “I can’t do this anymore... I can’t do us anymore more.”

“What?” 

“I don’t think I can do this anymore,” 

“I heard what you said, it just doesn’t make any sense,” Lena said incredulously, “Because it sounds like you’re breaking up with me.” 

Maybe Alex forgot to tell her about a serious head injury, maybe she hadn’t even woken up yet.

“If this is some sort of a joke, I’m telling you, it’s not funny.” 

“It’s not supposed to be funny, I’m serious,” much like earlier, Kara made sure to look Lena in the eyes and said, “I’m breaking up with you, Lena.”

Everything stopped. 

It just… stopped. 

Six words. That was all it took to make her life come crumbling down around her.

She was so numb, it felt like she had been struck by lightning. There was no way to describe the emptiness inside of her.

“No,” she shook her head rapidly, as if that would make the statement, the tears pouring down her face, any less real. 

“Lena-“ 

“No, Kara, you don’t get to make this decision for the both of us. You don't get to decide.” 

“This is for your-“ 

All numbness she felt moments ago made way for anger, all she felt was anger. Anger at herself, anger at the universe and most prominently, anger at the woman in front of her. The woman who had brought so much love and joy into her life, who had shown her that she deserved to be loved unconditionally, despite what had been drilled into her since she was four. The woman who threatened to take all of that away from her.

“Don’t you fucking dare, Kara Zor-El! Don’t tell me this is for my best. Me being in this hospital has absolutely nothing to do with you.”

"If you have other reasons to break up with me then fine, go ahead, but don't end this in some misguided attempt to protect me, Kara… Please, don't break something you don't know how to fix.“ The anger in her voice gave way to something akin to desperation and she didn't care. She didn't care about her pride or any of it, as long as she could fix this fucked up situation she found herself in.

 

"Lena, I made my decision, there is nothing you can say that will change my mind. Do yourself a favor and move on."

And then Kara was gone.

 

XXXXXXXXXX

 

It took her a good 15 minutes to compose herself after Kara literally flung herself out of the window. It definitely wasn’t enough time scream and cry or to trash the whole hospital room but it was enough for her to start thinking more or less clearly. Once she had formulated a somewhat risky plan, Lena started to frantically press the button on the bedside table to summon a nurse. When the nurse finally entered, after what felt like an eternity but was probably only 10 minutes, all she did was raise an eyebrow disapprovingly. 

“I want to be discharged, now. Not tomorrow, not in three days, I want to be discharged now,” Lena told him in her boardroom voice. 

As often as people had told her that she could scare the living daylights out of any sentient being when she used that voice, she hadn’t expected the nurse to just turn around and leave again, without saying a single word.

The feeling of satisfaction, or whatever came close enough in her current condition, of getting what she wanted without the nurse putting up a fight was short lived.   
Because the nurse returned with another man, who introduced himself as Chief of something and started to talk before she even had a chance to say something. He could have saved himself the trouble of lecturing her because she didn’t listen to a single word he said. 

“I want to save you the trouble of explaining why I shouldn’t leave AMA, because nothing you say will convince me to stay, so why don’t we skip to the part where I sign the papers.” 

“Ms. Luthor, barely twelve hours have passed since you left the OR-“ he started but Lena held up a hand. 

“The papers or I will call my team of lawyers, your choice.” She knew that she wasn't really giving him a choice, that her reaction might have been a bit extreme, that her decision to leave was rash and stupid, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. 

“I’ll be back with the paperwork as soon as possible,” he told her in a neutral voice. Lena could see the anger behind the facade though, he definitely did not like being strong-armed.

Once the door clicked shut she took a deep breath and sat up. It was much more difficult, more painful than Lena had anticipated, but she pushed through. 

Now all she needed was her phone or a phone, and the rest would be taken care of. 

 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

Unsurprisingly, it took them longer to come back with the paperwork, not that Lena minded, in fact, she had counted on it. 

It gave Jess, who had apparently waited for Lena to wake up in a nearby coffee shop, enough time to buy some clothes and organize for the other things Lena had asked for. 

So by the time the Chief of whatever came back, Lena was dressed and ready to go. Well, ready to roll, since the hospital rules stated that patients had to be in a wheelchair when leaving the premises. Normally, Lena would question a rule as stupid as that one, but the last remnants of her energy had been used up during the struggle that was changing. Even with Jess’s help, it had been hard to put the loose sweats and t-shirt on.   
So she didn’t argue much when Jess forced her into the wheelchair and basically told her to shut up. 

Everything went according to plan until they reached the car. Before Lena could heave herself out of the wheelchair, Alex Danvers stormed across the parking lot. 

“What the fuck do you think you're doing?” Alex yelled from at least a hundred feet away, yet her voice reached Lena as clearly as if she was standing right next to her.

“What does it look like? I’m leaving,” Lena replied in a resigned voice once Alex was close enough. 

“What do you mean you’re leaving, you almost bled to death not 24 hours ago! You can’t just leave!” 

“I can and I will, neither you nor your sister gets to tell me what I can or cannot do. So get out of my way.” Lena wasn't in the mood to fight with Alex, there wasn't much fight in her anyway.

“My sister? Lena, what did Kara do?” The confusion in Alex made her wonder if she really didn't know what Lena was talking about, but Alex was a trained government agent, convincingly lying was part of her job. 

“Don't pretend you don't know, Alex. That's what you wanted to talk to me about earlier, wasn't it? To tell me that she was about to break up with me, to soften the blow?” Lena snapped at the older Danvers, her look accusing.

"Lena, I have no idea what you're talking about, I swear." Alex crouched down in front of Lena's knees and grabbed her hands, much like Lena had done for her earlier in the hospital room. "Yes, I did want to talk to you about Kara but the only thing I wanted to tell you was that… well that she was a bit out of sorts when we came to the hospital. She didn't really behave like herself but we had just seen you impaled, so I chalked her reaction up to that. Please tell what happened with you?" 

Lena could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she hadn't even opened her mouth yet. Her heart rate increased, her breathing turned shallow, the emotions she had been trying to suppress threatening to take control of her. 

"Hey, shhh, everything's alright, keep breathing, Lena." Alex was squeezing her hand rhythmically in silent support. 

"I think it's for the best if you continue this conversation at a different point in time, Miss Luthor needs to rest." Jess, ever the loyal guard dog, intervened on Lena's behalf. 

Before either of the women had the opportunity to object, the car opened to reveal Simon. 

"Good to see you up and about, Miss Luthor," Simon said once he got out of the car. "Let's get you home, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this took ages to write but my computer deleted like half of the chapter so I had to rewrite it and that was much harder than the first time around... anyway, I hope it isn't too disappointing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, hopefully more regularly now.

Jess took her to the apartment, not saying a single word during the car ride over. Not that Lena minded, she was far too drained to actually partake in any form of social interaction. Instead, she blankly stared out of the window, observing other cars passing by while trying not to think.

The silence followed them into the apartment and Lena was sure that Jess would just leave her there. She was proven wrong though when the assistant guided her through to the bedroom, gently pushed her onto the ottoman at the foot of the bed and started to pile cushion upon cushion on Lena's bed, arranging them until she was satisfied. Then she turned towards Lena again, grabbing her elbow as gently as before, slowly helping her into an upright position.

If Lena hadn't been so dazed, she might have protested against the thought of being treated like a child but then again, maybe she wouldn't have. The emotional blow she had been dealt today was worse than her physical injuries, as far as Lena was concerned. She was glad for someone there to take care of her.

“Lie down, I'll be back in a second,” Jess said quietly, once she had pulled the covers up to Lena's chin.

When Jess came back she had a plastic cup in her hand, with a lid and a straw. She had absolutely no idea where it came from, but that was of little importance at the moment. Just seeing the cup had made her realize how dry her throat was, how long it had been since she had anything to drink.

With Jess's help, Lena sat up and took a sip. She was tempted to down the water in a few gulps, but as if her assistant was able to read her mind she admonished Lena with a soft warning to slow down.

In the recesses of her mind, Lena was aware of how unusual her behavior was. How out of character it was for her to just do as she was told without complaining once. But it was so much easier, following simple commands such as _drink slowly_ and _lie down_ , than thinking for herself. If she were to start thinking now, she would think about Kara and a whole barrage of emotions she wasn't ready to face yet. Instead, she followed her secretary's orders.

“You should sleep for a while. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me, just call out,” Jess said once Lena was settled against the pillows.

She made sure that Lena was able to reach the water on the bedside table without difficulties, drew the blinds and then left the room. The silence that had been comfortable before was suddenly oppressing and all-encompassing.

A short bitter laugh escaped Lena's lips. Who would have thought that she would end up alone in her bedroom, hours after getting out of the OR for a life-threatening injury?

Not that she had ever imagined herself in this kind of scenario, but after the last two years of being in a relationship with Kara, she would have thought that she'd have an annoyingly worried Kryptonian on her hands. That Kara wouldn't leave her out of her sight until she made absolutely sure that there was nothing in a five-block radius that could be a danger to Lena. How did she end up alone again, after all this time?

Taking a ragged breath and pushing all thoughts of Kara aside, Lena decided that she would let the exhaustion she has been fighting until now sweep over her. Her problems would still be there once she was more rested, they really couldn't get much worse.

* * *

As far as she could tell, nothing had changed when she woke up.  She was still in bed, her right arm was still in a cast, the throbbing in her stomach was excruciating and worst of all, she was still alone. There was a part of her that had hoped that Kara would realize how stupid she was being, what a big mistake she had made. A part of her that had hoped that she would wake up to see Kara lying next to her. A part that now felt the crushing disappointment of reality. She knew how stupid it was to let herself feel even the tiniest amount of hope, but she couldn't help it.

With a heavy sigh, Lena decided she needed a more tangible problem to solve than the mess that her personal life had become. Work would occupy her mind enough to lessen her heartache. Everything Kara she would just put aside until she felt ready to deal with it, whenever that would be, she didn’t know.

With her mind made up, Lena tried to heave herself out of bed. Just like in the hospital it was easier said than done. The pain in her stomach was barely tolerable while lying in bed, actually moving felt near impossible. Lena gritted her teeth and pushed through the pain, not one to admit that the hospital staff and Alex might have had a point when they told her it is a stupid idea for her to leave.

It felt like an eternity had passed until she was actually standing and by the time she was ready to open her bedroom door, she was soaked in sweat.

During the normally short track into the kitchen, Lena had to take several breaks just to stop her legs from giving out underneath her. It was a small miracle that Jess didn't hear her approach until she was a few feet away from the kitchen island. Her labored breathing and the shuffle of her feet were the only sounds aside from Jess's fingers on the keyboard of her computer.

“What are you doing up?” Jess shrieked in shock when she saw her boss standing next to her, “You're supposed to be in bed!”

“I have work to do,” Lena stated as if everybody who had just been in the hospital because of a life-threatening injury just starts working again immediately after.

Naturally, that tactic wouldn’t work with her assistant.

“The only thing you have to do is rest. You might be able to strong-arm your doctor's into releasing you, but you can't do that with me, and you know it. I have everything under control at L-Corp, there is nothing for you to worry about, so get your ass back into bed,” Jess said in a stern voice.

It was the voice she usually used when people tried to get into Lena's office without an appointment, it left no room for argument.

Despite her earlier determination to work and push everything else aside, she felt her willpower waver. In an effort not to show Jess just how close she was to giving in, Lena tried to bargain.

“Jess- “ Lena started, but before she could say any more she was interrupted.

“Don't fight me on this. You’re injured, you can barely stand on your own, hell you look barely conscious as it is, what exactly do you think you’re going to accomplish in your state?”

Damn Jess and her logic.

“I should hire a new assistant. Someone who will let me do the bossing and not constantly boss me around,” it wasn’t supposed to be audible to anyone but herself, yet Jess had obviously heard because she turned her head to try to hide her smile.

“Can I at least get my phone and computer for a while?” Lena asked after a couple of seconds of silence.

“No can do. You have a serious concussion, so no screens of any kind. You know the rules, god knows you’ve had enough concussions in recent years to learn them by heart.”

She did know that she wasn’t allowed to work, watch tv, read, use her phone or computer, drive or do anything fun in general, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

Usually, the only way to get her to comply was Kara promising her that they would spend the time together. She didn’t have Kara to take care of her now, though. Nobody who would lie in bed with her and read her favorite book aloud. Nobody who would draw her a warm bath and massage her shoulders. She didn’t have that certain someone anymore.

Just like that, everything she had shoved aside a few minutes earlier came back. Lena didn’t know how to proceed. She didn't know how to make the pain inside of her go away.

For the first time in a long while, she had no idea what to do with herself.

Despite what most people assumed, she liked how busy her life was, liked the challenges she faced day in, day out. Working gave her a sense of purpose, it made her feel useful.

Working let her forget about all the insane things happening in her life and to have that taken away from her, especially in her current situation, irritated her immensely.

“Fine, I’ll be in my room,” Lena snapped before turning around and leaving. If it wouldn’t have been for her slow shuffling, she would’ve felt like a petulant teenager storming off to her room.

On her slow way back to the bedroom, an idea started to form in her mind. All it took was a detour to her home office, a few keystrokes et voila. She wasn’t really breaking Jess’s rules regarding screens, at least that's what she told herself.

All in all a trip that would usually take less than two minutes turned into an endeavor of nearly 15 minutes, involved a lot of cursing and excessive amounts of sweat.

The hard work paid off though when she crossed the threshold into the bedroom and was greeted by a calm male voice.

“Good day Ms. Luthor, would you like me to open the blinds for you?”

Hearing the familiar voice made her smile, it had been way too long since she last heard it.

“No need, Marvin. I was wondering if you could help me with something.”

 

* * *

 

“I didn’t know that M.A.R.V.I.N. is still activated,” Jess commented when she entered the bedroom sometime later.

“I reactivated him, there have been a few developments that can help improve with the difficulties he had last time around.” Thinking about the _difficulties_ made Lena smile wistfully. She would never forget Kara’s flabbergasted expression when they realized that the AI had activated the cameras in her bedroom while they were having sex. She shook her head to focus on the situation at hand.

It was pure luck that she had put away her notebook and calculations, there would have been hell to pay if she had been caught. Though she didn’t think this constituted as work, Jess was sure to disagree with that.

Hesitantly Jess made her way over to the bed and sat down. Her assistant was many things, but hesitant wasn’t usually amongst them. The unusual demeanor made her feel on edge and unsure about what the other woman would say next.

“I know this is extremely difficult for you and that you want to come back to work as soon as possible but you can only do that if you rest,” a sad smile tucked at her secretary’s lips as she put her hands atop Lena’s and squeezed reassuringly, “It’ll take some time for your wounds to heal and I want to make sure that you know you’re not alone. You have people who care and worry about you, there’s no need for you to suffer through this alone.”

Not a few hours ago Lena would have agreed with that statement. She did have people in her life, but those were people who entered her life through Kara. Now that Kara was gone, so were those people. Alex would probably disagree and reassure her that they were friends because they actually liked Lena, not because she was Kara's girlfriend. And while that might be true, she also knew that hanging around Kara's friends would hurt too much. Better to cut off all ties now and save herself the pain.

So no, she didn't really have anyone but Jess, who was on her payroll...It’s not like she seriously doubted or questioned their friendship, the feeling that Jess might only be there for her because of money was a remnant of her childhood. There had been too many instances of people befriending her because of some kind of benefit they thought they could gain.

They sat in silence until Lena felt the urge to tell her friend how much she appreciated her.

"Thank you, for coming to pick me up and for everything else that you do."

"All in the job description, Ms. Luthor," Jess teased lightly.

"We both know that's not true. You do way more than what's in your job description, don't downplay that. L-Corp wouldn't be running as smoothly as it does, and I don't even want to think about what my life would look like without you. If I would have to hazard a guess, I’d say it would be a total disaster."

It seemed like she wasn’t done yet because after a short break she continued.

"And I know that I can be difficult and very demanding at the best of times and I want to thank you for that as well. Once this is over, I'll send you to the Seychelles or something, it's the very least I can do after dumping my responsibilities on you and-" somehow she had started to ramble, something she had been doing more often since she and Kara got together. Luckily, Jess interrupted her before this embarrassing word vomit could continue.

"Okay, let me stop you right here. You're not dumping anything on me, or on anybody. Just because you're the CEO doesn't mean that you have to do everything. Try to concentrate on healing and let the rest of us do our jobs, as hard as that might be for you."

Before Lena was able to protest against that statement, Jess continued.

"And while the offer of going to the Seychelles is much appreciated, it's not necessary. You already pay me too much. But we should probably talk about L-Corp."

Lena was glad for the sudden change, it was so much easier for her to talk business than to talk about her feelings.

The plan for L-Corp was fairly simple. Jess along with the other executives would take care of the most pressing issues while Lena stayed home. They would release a statement tomorrow about what happened in the convenience store, tell them that she was on the mend and would return after an appropriate amount of time.

It wasn't lost on Lena that her secretary didn't mention a time frame for her return.

In addition to her responsibilities at work, Jess would check in on Lena regularly, make sure that she was taking care of herself and not do anything too stupid. She didn’t really have much of a say in it, it was either that or a trip back to the hospital.

"Fine, you can check in on me. I won't go back to the hospital come hell or high water, you can quote me on that," Lena grumbled unhappily.

"Cool. So what do you want to have for dinner? I was thinking soup." Jess grinned at her, the delivery app on her phone already opened and ready to order.

 

* * *

 

A new routine formed quickly. Jess would stop by before going to the office in the morning, make sure that Lena took her medicine and then leave for the office. She would come back in the evening, keep Lena updated on L-Corp, make her take her pills after their shared dinner and then head home.

While Jess was working tirelessly to manage operations with the other executives, Lena would work on her own side projects with Marvin’s help. Not that Jess was aware of that.

The side projects helped keep her occupied and kept sleep at bay, for the most part.

Her dreams were full of happy memories with Kara, lazy Sundays spent in bed together, small clips of their most recent weekend getaway.

Essentially all the memories Lena avoided to think about at all costs.

The happiness she felt in her dreams inevitably turned into a deep pain once she realized that Kara was not lying next to her and that it probably wouldn't happen any time soon either.

Which was why she tried to avoid sleep as much as possible but the more she ignored the need to rest the more her body rebelled. One moment she would be working on one of her neglected projects and the next she would startle awake, the clock on the bedside table indicating that she had slept for hours.

Not well versed in neurology, she had Marvin research her sudden inclination to randomly fall asleep. The only explanation he came up with was that her body needed more time and rest to heal and since she wasn’t inclined in doing so, her body just took what it needed. Hence the pseudo narcolepsy.

Aside from her unwillingness to sleep, Lena was doing much better. Walking around wasn't as exhausting as on her first day back home. She was getting the hang of writing somewhat legible with her left hand as well as generally living with just one functioning arm. Showering still was one of the biggest issues but nothing that couldn't be made easier with some plastic wrap and meters worth of duct tape.

The only thing that still caused more problems than Lena would have liked was her stomach. It had started as a bit of redness around the edges of the suture, then it started to swell. It wasn't anything major, which is why she didn't tell Jess. Lena had enough medical knowledge to know that she had aggravated the injury by moving too much too fast. The swelling would go down within a couple of days, and the pain would lessen. No need to go see a doctor.

She was almost as good as new, which meant that it was time to go back to work.

Tomorrow she would go back to work, a week of staying home would have to suffice.

Time to take back control over her life.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this has taken ages and I'm sorry but I just wasn't motivated and was very unhappy with the chapter and I'm still not 100% satisfied but at this point, I feel like if I don't get this chapter out I will never finish this story. I hope y'all like this chapter more than I do and I will do my best to get the next chapter out faster than this one, shouldn't be too hard, right?

It felt good to be back at work, just like she had hoped. The constant bustle of the top floor of L-Corp HQ was like a soothing balm for her soul. Seeing her employees go about their day filled her with a feeling of normalcy. It made it easier to pretend that everything was normal when she felt like her life was anything but.

Aside from a heated exchange with Jess on her first day back, nobody had the nerve to comment on her presence. There had been more than a few shocked looks and whispered conversations in the breakrooms, but that was easy enough to ignore.

What wasn't easy to ignore was the seemingly constant buzzing of her phone. When Jess had handed Lena her phone back that first day at the office, it had hundreds of notifications. Most of them were from people she didn't really know or care about wishing her a speedy recovery, but a significant amount was from Alex and Sam. Texts asking her how she was doing, what the hell she was thinking leaving the hospital AMA, why she wasn't responding and so on. Concerned text messages had turned into calls every hour or so.

She was lucky that Alex hadn't decided to just storm her apartment or office with a SWAT team. Out of all of their friends, Alex was probably the only one who could bypass the barriers Lena had erected to prevent them from coming to see her. There really wasn't much that could stop an 'FBI' Agent. Marvin had shown her live feeds of her friends whenever they tried to come visit her. Seeing the footage of her friends in the lobby of her apartment building, with flowers or stuffed animals or something equally as cliché had warmed her heart. But it wasn't enough for her to actually let them up and see what a wreck she was. It was better this way.

After the phone had started to ring for the twenty-fifth time before noon, she had sent a carefully worded text message to Alex, saying that she was doing fine but wasn't ready to talk yet. That had resulted in angry texts from Sam demanding to know why she hadn't gotten an answer when Alex had.

She would have laughed at the ridiculousness, but the thought of Alex and Sam teaming up against her was too scary to laugh at.

 

* * *

 

"Jess, when is that meeting- " a sharp pain on her abdomen made her groan loudly. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath, there was no way Jess hadn't heard that.

 She pulled the hand that had reflexively found its way to the stitches on her stomach away just as Jess entered the office. Jess observed Lena with narrowed eyes and suspiciously asked, "What did you do?"

 "I'm fine, just moved too quickly," Lena tried to act nonchalant, hoping against hope that her creepily perceptive assistant would let it slide just this once.

 Jess hummed unconvinced, the suspicious glint still present in her eyes.

 She cursed inwardly, of course, Jess wouldn't let it slide, she had been even more no-nonsense than usual since the hospital.

 "Are you going to keep pretending that everything is fine until you collapse or are you going to spill? I feel the need to inform you that, should you choose the former, I will handcuff you to the hospital bed and let your attorney declare you as mentally incompetent and invoke power of attorney." Jess crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly to let her know she wasn't playing games.

 Lena ran through the different scenarios in her head, to determine the most favorable outcome for her predicament. If she continued to ignore the swelling and the fluids that had started to ooze out of the incision, or the fever she had been running for the last two days, chances were that she would end up in the hospital again. This time for much longer than 24 hours and without anybody who would be willing to help her escape. Given some time she might've come up with something to prevent another stay in the hospital and getting a tongue lashing by Jess, but she didn’t have the time. Seemed like she would just have to bite the bullet and spill the beans.

"Fine..." she finally replied.

_Tell her the basics, make it sound as harmless as possible and she might leave you alone_ , she told herself before she answered.

"I popped one or two stitches a few days ago, the wound is a bit infected, but I'm taking care of it."

"Show me," Jess gritted out between clenched teeth. The vein in her neck looked ready to burst. Not once, in all the years they had known each other, had she seen Jess this angry, she looked downright homicidal.

She struggled to open the buttons of her blouse with her hand shaking like a wet Chihuahua. It was a miracle that she had managed to button the damn thing in the morning with one hand, doing it in these circumstances seemed sheer impossible.

Despite her continued struggle, Jess didn't offer to help. Instead, she just stood there and observed every single movement critically. Her anger rolling off of her in waves. It was only once the last button was undone that she moved towards Lena, her eyes zeroing in on the blood-stained bandage.

“Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me, Lena!” Jess yelled once she was crouched in front of Lena and saw the state of the wound. "Jesus Christ, if that's what you call a minor infection, I don't want to know what an infection looks like in your book!"

She muttered angry exclamations under her breath as she studied and prodded the incision and its surroundings carefully. Lena's squirming and hisses went ignored.

After the examination, Jess took a deep breath that conveyed just how exasperated and disappointed she was with Lena for letting it come to this.

"Lena, I don't even know where to start. Clearly, a new bandage and some disinfectant aren't going to cut it,” she said as she stood up to lean against the desk. "I mean look at it, Lena! How is this 'taking care of it'?"

Looking down, Lena realized that her assistant was right. It had gotten way out of hand. There was no way that either of them was equipped to deal with the festering mess the incision had become.

"How can someone as brilliant as you be so mind-numbingly stupid? It must've taken days to reach this point. Why haven't you said anything and more importantly how are you still functioning?" Jess was running her hand through her hair repeatedly, clearly at a loss.

"Stubbornness?" Lena suggested jokingly, though looking down at her stomach made her think that maybe it really was her thick-headedness that was keeping her more or less functional.

"Shut up, this isn't funny. I have to take you to a hospital." Lena blanched at the thought.

"You'll do no such thing, Jessica." There was no way she was going back to the hospital.

"Don't Jessica me, Lena. Why do you keep arguing about this? Please just let me take you to the hospital." She leaned forward to grab Lena's hand pleadingly. "This is your life we're talking about, and I know that it is incredibly hard for you at the moment with the break-up but don't throw your life away because of a failed relationship."

It took all of Lena's willpower not to start crying at the words 'failed relationship'. Because those words didn't apply to her relationship, sure their relationship wasn't perfect, but what had happened was...unimportant at the moment, she realized. Jess was right, if she continued to take her injuries lightly, she might actually die.

So, she pushed her feelings for the descriptor aside, to concentrate on the issue at hand.

There were really only three people she trusted to take care of her in this kind of situation. One of them was standing in front of her, pleading her to go to the hospital. The other had broken up with her shortly after regaining consciousness in a hospital room, and the other was a medical doctor and had been begging her for days to please call back.

So really there was only one viable option, as much as she wished it were otherwise.

“Call Alex Danvers, she’ll know what to do.”

* * *

They had been waiting for Alex for less than half an hour, and yet Lena's condition had deteriorated considerably. At the moment she was lying on her office couch, barely conscious.

It was as if the pain and discomfort she had been feeling for the last few days had caught up with her since she acknowledged just how bad things actually were. The pain in her stomach became worse with every minute that passed, sweat started to soak through her blouse until it was sticking uncomfortably to her skin. Her breathing was starting to become labored and even through the fog that clouded her mind, she realized how incredibly stupid she had been. The way Jess had been pacing in front of her for the past 20 minutes confirmed that she had fucked up monumentally.

It was only once Alex opened the office door with gusto that Jess stopped pacing. Alex was wearing her usual black tactical gear with the addition of a gigantic, bright red backpack that EMTs usually carried. The look in her eyes could only be described as a mixture of worry and fury, it looked startlingly similar to Jess' look earlier.

Lena's attempt to ease the redhead's worry by smiling slightly and waving was feeble at best. It probably didn't look very reassuring when she looked like death warmed over.

After a hushed conversation with Jess that Lena wasn't able to make out, Alex kneeled down next to the couch and started unpacking while asking Lena question upon question about what had happened.

She tried to answer as best as she could, but it was getting increasingly harder for her not to slur. Alex never commented though, just continued to hum in response while she worked on Lena's stomach.

She must have missed Alex giving her a local anesthetic because Lena couldn't actually feel anything besides a faint tingling on her stomach. The whole thing was a blur to her.

A minute ago, Alex had entered the office, and now she was starting to put her utensils neatly back into her bag.

"Oh, you're awake again," Alex said when she looked up again.

Lena hadn't even been aware that she had fallen asleep, or had she lost consciousness? Not that that mattered at the moment.

"Hi," she whispered sheepishly.

"Hey." Alex had stopped packing and locked eyes with her. "You should have called sooner, Lena," she continued and took a deep breath before stroking Lena's cheek gently.

All she could do at that moment was to nod and try to keep her treacherous tears at bay. It had been ages since someone had taken care of her like this.  Whenever she was sick as a child, it was usually a nanny that took care of her, and while they were nice, it had never been more than a job to them. She's never had anyone who genuinely cared for her take care of her like this and having Alex there with her meant more than she could ever describe.

They stayed like that, Lena softly crying while Alex kept stroking her cheeks and occasionally ran her fingers through brown tresses.

"I'm sorry," Lena whispered when she couldn't take it anymore. She tried to sit up but was stopped by Alex' hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her down.

"I won't lie to you and say that it's fine because it's really not, but I think I understand why you didn't call sooner. I also think I know why you've basically banished all of us from your life, but Lena," she said before running her hand through her hair, "you have to know that you will be our friend no matter what happened between you and Kara."

Alex' declaration only made Lena cry harder, sobs were racking her body and no matter what breathing technique she tried, they all failed.

She wasn't really sure what had triggered her reaction, she knew what Alex said to be true. Had known it when she told security to revoke all of her friends' access, and yet, hearing it out loud felt different. Hearing it come from Alex, who had problems with Lena and Kara's relationship, in the beginning, made it feel more real than when she had told herself the same thing.

"You don't have to get through this alone. You have people who love and care about you. We want to take care of you and support you. You are not a burden to us," Alex said with conviction. Hearing those words was like a childhood dream come true, sure she had always wanted to hear those words from Lillian but hearing them from Alex was just as good.

"It's just been so hard without..." Lena let the sentence trail off, they both knew who she was talking about anyway.

"And it's okay if you want to try to get through this alone, but the point is, you don't have to. You have Jess, Sam, Maggie, Winn, James and me. We are not going to leave you to deal with this alone, just because my sister is being a gigantic moron. Not everybody can be as clever as me." While she said the last part, Alex pinched her cheeks lightly.

"I have more PhDs than you do, I think it's pretty clear who is more intelligent between the two of us," she replied faux haughtily.

"That may be true, but I'm not the one who fainted at work because she was too stupid to take care of a papercut."

"I did not faint at work. Or anywhere else, for that matter." Lena huffed out before weakly slapping Alex' hand away before she could pinch her cheek again.

"Uh huh, keep telling yourself that, princess." The wide grin on the redhead's lips was infectious, which is why it didn't take long for Lena's pout to transform into an equally wide yet tired smile. It felt good to smile with a friend and forget the catastrophe her life had become in recent weeks, even if just for a minute or two. But all good things come to an end.

"You know, speaking of my idiotic sister... she kinda did something that might not be as stupid as breaking up with you, but it's up there." Alex started to gather her medical supplies again, suddenly unwilling to meet Lena's eyes. "You know what? Let us not get into this. I’m going to take you home and tell you about it later. Sam is waiting for us."

 

**Author's Note:**

> No beta, all mistakes are my own.


End file.
